Just John

1. Astros/Cards Game 6 of the NLCS: After two days of listening to loudmouth Cards fans jerking off to the Pujols homer, it was refreshing to see Oswalt do his thing and shut down the entire lineup. Watching the Stros win the pennant might be my favorite sports moment ever, even if they got swept in the Series. 2. Astros/Braves Game 4 of the NLDS: I'm obviously a Stros fan, so this game was definitely fun to watch. I was pretty upset until the Berkman slam, then Brad Ausmus finally did something right, and then the debut of Chris Burke ending the game. Since I don't really like the Braves at all, it was doubly sweet. 3. Rockets/Mavs Game 2 of the opening round: Yeah the Rockets lost eventually, but the feeling of hope after going up 2-0 after T-Mac drained the game winner was still one of my top sporting moments of the year. A back and forth 112-110 final makes the game all the better. 4. Pistons/Spurs Game 5 of the NBA finals: Surprised more people haven't listed this one. Probably the best game on my list, as it's only #4 due to sentimental homerism. Watching Horry nail clutch shot after shot through the 4th quarter and OT was a sight to see. Expect this to turn up on ESPN Classic someday. 5. Colts/Pats AFC divisional playoffs: Even with a ton of people picking the Colts, it was still the same old story. Pats defense really put on a show in this one.

Right now, they have a better division record. With a win next week, the worst that could happen is they finish with the same division record as the Giants. The Bears also have a better conference record, only losing 1 game in the NFC. With another NFC win next week, they would be guaranteed a better conference record than the Giants, who have already lost 3 NFC games.

I think it would be cool to do something at Reliant Stadium (or any place with a retractable roof), where you can have an outside atmosphere with a closed roof. Gives you some alternatives if the weather doesn't cooperate.

The Jags don't score enough to beat the Pats. New England could easily win some ugly 19-13 like game against them. Getting past the Colts would be another issue, but it's far from unlikely that the Pats could beat the Jags in Foxboro.

Could someone upload the Tim White suicide bit? I have to see this to believe it.

The Pats are really sending a message now. Just putting a ridiculous beatdown on a pretty good Bucs team might get them noticed, although I'm sure they wouldn't mind flying under the radar until the SB again, just like all the times they won it.

This card actually looks very good on paper from a match standpoint (save for the Lashley squash), but the problem is there isn't really anything important going on. The major titles aren't really up for grabs, and Orton/UT just seems like an upper midcard level feud, instead of the ME. This could actually be a solid show and a sleeper candidate for top 2-3 ppv of the year. Kinda reminds me of one of those mid 97 WCW cards with nothing major happening, but lots of potentially good workrate matches. I also think we see the return of the big HIAC bump, as I think Orton has the balls (and health) to take one.

Sadly, again SD apparently does not warrant its own thread. Anyway, yesterday's show was pretty good. Crazy/Kash was nice little cruiser match that actually made it seem as if WWE might care a little about the cruisers. They did a pretty good job putting over Kash as a legit threat. Juvi/Kash could easily be *** 1/2 or so at Armaggedon. That tag title match was excellent. Nitro is really showing some improvement from where he was earlier this year. Props for taking the reverse hurricanrana off the top too. Hopefully the tag belts get merged at Armaggedon and the belts become exclusive to SD. The rest of the show was pretty solid too to help promote the ppv, minus the absence of Benoit. Where was he exactly? The Boogeyman needs to go away as soon as possible. I hate this gimmick so much.

That Maeda match was fun to watch. And that kick... Good god.

Man, I bet ABC is kicking themselves for this one. What an absolutely awful choice for a national tv game. This week is pretty much all hit and miss with the game quality. TB/NE, KC/NYG, PIT/MIN, SD/IND, and ATL/CHI are all good looking matchups. However DEN/BUF, ARI/HOU, NYJ/MIA, CLE/OAK, and GB/BAL all suck the meat missile.

Doesn't sound too bad. I could do without the Boogeyman or LOD/Dicks, but whatever. I actually look forward to more Orton/Taker stuff since it's so bad it's good. That angle has almost reached Kane/Shane levels awful greatness.

Dudleys vs. NAO at No Way Out 2000. The Dudleys were fresh, NAO weren't. Fun to see them get their asses beat and lose the belts. Anytime The Giant would squash like 3 jobbers at a time in WCW was fun to watch.

A man walks into a swanky bar and says to the bartender "You know, I bet I could sleep with any woman in here." And the bartender says "Oh yeah, what makes you say that?" The man replies "Because I'm a rapist." Why does Mexico not have an Olympic team? Because any Mexican that can run, jump, or swim is in the US. How many Freuds does it take to change a light bulb? Two. One to change the bulb, and one to hold the penis... I mean ladder.

For once, I can actually understand why the Pats are being overlooked (though I'm not doing it). They've looked pretty inconsistent all year, kinda like 02 team between SB's. However, the 02 team wasn't getting better like the Pats are now. If things stay the way they are, I don't see any way the Jags go to Foxboro and win, thus setting up another interesting Colts/Pats match.

Even though I know the Clips are playing really well, this still looks weird. Glad to see the Rockets bounce from 29 to 16 too. Like I've said, if T-Mac's healthy, this is a 50+ win team. The Rockets should continue to make their .500 by the end of the year push with a 3-1 record this week.

The Wednesday TV games look good. The Clippers have a pretty tough week, so this could reveal a lot about their character early in the season.

I thought Match #2 was ***+. Probably the best Booker/Benoit match I've seen, made by Benoit nearly killing himself on the failed apron German. I really don't want this series to go 7, because both guys are being wasted in the feud.

Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker: Orton wins. If he's getting a ME push, he absolutely cannot lose this match. He's looked like a bitch for most of the feud, so I say Orton exorcises his demons and beats UT with an RKO (possibly sold with another back bump). I also wouldn't be surprised to see Orton take a big bump off the cell here either. Batista and Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show and Kane: Could go either way. SD's been getting most of the big interbrand wins, but since Rey's been getting the shit beat out of him lately, I'll say Team SD wins. Batista's still very protected, so I'm sure they won't let Show and Kane go over the World champ, especially when he's not even injured in kayfabe. Mexicools vs. MNM: I'll have to see how this plays out this week, but right now I'm leaning towards new champs giving all the Mexicools gold. Although if MNM looks bad again next week, they could win with interferrence from Melina and prolong the feud. Should be a good match. Booker T vs. Chris Benoit: Karma for the OJ feud? A Red Sox like comeback from Benoit would be too predictable and he really doesn't belong in the US division, especially with a thin ME scene. I'll make the bold prediction that Booker sweeps the series, leading to a Benoit doubting himself angle, and eventual rebound to success.

This isn't really a WWE question, but I don't know where else to put this... Where is ROH based?

Thank god McGrady's back in the lineup for Houston. It's amazing the world of difference he makes for that team. If he stays healthy, Houston's still a legit playoff team in the West. If Houston stays strong with T-Mac, the first 3 weeks of the Rockets season might get him some MVP consideration. Sam Cassell should be getting some too, as he's really the veteran player the Clips needed, but Elton Brand is drawing most of the attention on that team.

I think the Bears are for real, but Pittsburgh matches up really well to beat them. The Steelers offense can usually score pretty well with Ben in the lineup, and the D is more than enough to stop the Bears. It's pretty easy to see why they're favored. As for other things... I think Jacksonville has the best shot to beat Indy straight up. If Indy wins this week, they clinch HFA, and if the Colts are smart, they'll rest their starters at the end of the season, giving Seattle (who will likely still be fighting for HFA) or Arizona a chance to beat the scrubs. Carolina matches up well against Indy also, which is a possible SB matchup. I think Carolina gets the 2 seed, and Chicago drops to the WC round. I think Carolina might be the all-around most complete team in the NFC (though Seattle is for real), but it'd be tough to catch 2 games on the Seahawks at this point.

At least he went out in style. His courtroom skit was one of the better ones, especially his reaction to having to face HHH later.

I like Mr. Kennedy, but making him the Raw GM? Please. At least it wouldn't be a McMahon, though.

WCW giving Scott Hall an alcoholic gimmick when he had real life alcohol problems.

I don't understand how Cena won't be turning heel with Jamal joining him and feuding with HBK. Booker T should definitely get that announcing spot, since he was better than every WWE commentator except Styles in his brief performance. Never would've guessed based on his brother's announcing history.